By: Laurence Foster January 21, 2019 6:35 PM The 50th anniversary of IMSA isn’t just a chance to indulge in the past – but, wow, what an incredible past. It’s also a celebration of the exciting here and now in North American endurance sports car racing.When you talk of IMSA’s golden ages, the GTP era of the 1980s and early ’90s is a spectacular high water mark. More recently, the American Le Mans Series, with its mix of high-tech prototypes and relatable GTs tearing up the old script about sports car racing being a marathon, not a sprint, is right up there, too.But how about we also include the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship?

Pre-season hyperbole? Not a bit of it.When ALMS and Grand-Am announced their merger in the fall of 2012, with IMSA sanctioning the united championship for its ’13 debut, short-term pragmatism determined the structure and format of the various classes, but proved astute over the longer term. Retaining both series’ GT classes to provide a home for factories and privateers alike was a decision that continues to pay off in quality, quantity and variety. Meanwhile, the transition from Daytona Prototypes to the “P2 on steroids” machines of Daytona Prototype international (DPi) is a case study in how to provide manufacturers with a platform that can showcase a brand and tell a technology story, but without heading down an LMP1-style budgetary death spiral.Bottom line, we have a series that, front to back, supplies great racing from its heaving grid, and connects with fans on multiple levels.Connecting with a television audience was always something of a challenge for the IndyCar Series, thanks to its nomadic existence across multiple broadcast partners. Going all-in with the NBC Sports Group for 2019, with six races, including the 103rd Indianapolis 500, on network NBC and the rest on NBCSN, could be a huge booster. Add in newly-announced title sponsor NTT, and we’re definitely liking the momentum the series is building. Click here to purchase the new issue of RACER.

By: Laurence Foster | January 21, 2019 6:35 PM The 50th anniversary of IMSA isn’t just a chance to indulge in the past – but, wow, what an incredible past. It’s also a celebration of the exciting here and now in North American endurance sports car racing.When you talk of IMSA’s golden ages, the GTP era of the 1980s and early ’90s is a spectacular high water mark. More recently, the American Le Mans Series, with its mix of high-tech prototypes and relatable GTs tearing up the old script about sports car racing being a marathon, not a sprint, is right up there, too.But how about we also include the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship?

Pre-season hyperbole? Not a bit of it.When ALMS and Grand-Am announced their merger in the fall of 2012, with IMSA sanctioning the united championship for its ’13 debut, short-term pragmatism determined the structure and format of the various classes, but proved astute over the longer term. Retaining both series’ GT classes to provide a home for factories and privateers alike was a decision that continues to pay off in quality, quantity and variety. Meanwhile, the transition from Daytona Prototypes to the “P2 on steroids” machines of Daytona Prototype international (DPi) is a case study in how to provide manufacturers with a platform that can showcase a brand and tell a technology story, but without heading down an LMP1-style budgetary death spiral.Bottom line, we have a series that, front to back, supplies great racing from its heaving grid, and connects with fans on multiple levels.Connecting with a television audience was always something of a challenge for the IndyCar Series, thanks to its nomadic existence across multiple broadcast partners. Going all-in with the NBC Sports Group for 2019, with six races, including the 103rd Indianapolis 500, on network NBC and the rest on NBCSN, could be a huge booster. Add in newly-announced title sponsor NTT, and we’re definitely liking the momentum the series is building. Click here to purchase the new issue of RACER.

By: Laurence Foster 10 hours ago As I type, pre-season testing is in full swing — it’s that time of the year when anything and everything is still possible.The skeptics (Cynics? Realists?) among us might take the times racked up in thrashing around Barcelona with F1 or COTA with IndyCar with a pinch of salt, but the optimists — count us in – are seeing some intriguing trends and storylines emerging from the subterfuge and the sandbagging.In F1, Ferrari’s SF90 appears a genuine pacesetter, with long-run speed and impressive consistency. Add in new signing Charles Leclerc looking totally at ease alongside team leader Sebastian Vettel, and is this the year when the Scuderia finally gets on season-long terms with Mercedes?Over at the Silver Arrows, has it taken a wrong turn on front-wing development under 2019’s new aero regulations, and will we see F1’s benchmark squad forced to play catch-up in the early grands prix? That’s a fascinating thought. As is Red Bull Racing’s near-bulletproof start with new power-unit partner Honda, and Renault’s straight-out-of-the-box pace as it seeks to narrow the gap to F1’s “big three.”Speaking of big threes, Andretti Autosport, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing didn’t stray too far from the top of the time sheets at COTA’s IndyCar dress rehearsals, but some exciting interlopers hint at how wide open the 2019 season could be. Rookie Colton Herta fastest overall for Harding Steinbrenner Racing? Ganassi newbie Felix Rosenqvist edging teammate and reigning champ Scott Dixon? Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe putting Rahal Letterman Lanigan and Arrows SPM in the mix, too? This is going to be good!In the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Rolex 24 at Daytona provided hard data to go with the speculation. Cadillac made it three wins in three attempts at Daytona but the pace of Mazda’s RT24-P was a revelation. In this issue of RACER, find out why it seems only a matter of time before the DPi class gets a new winner. Click here to purchase the new issue of RACER.

By: RACER Staff February 28, 2019 6:00 PM There’s an old adage, “To finish first, first you must finish.” Back in the day in endurance racing, that meant saving your car, running as conservative a pace as you dared, and only pushing if absolutely necessary. The reason had everything to do with mechanical reliability.But times have changed. Prototype sports cars such as the Cadillac DPi-V.R are so reliable that they can be pushed to the limit even over the course of a twice-around-the-clock race like the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Today, to finish first, first you must…drive it flat-out from the start.“Being on the edge, and on the limit of things for such a long period of time is intense,” says two-time Rolex 24 winner Jordan Taylor. “Your heart rate is up; the mental and physical capacity all comes into play, especially if you’re behind the wheel for a three-hour stint. By the end of it, the racecar’s fine, but you’re exhausted…”Thanks to fighter-pilot levels of G-forces during braking and cornering, the physical demands on a driver are high. But at a place like Daytona International Speedway, there is still a chance for a driver to catch their breath and relax a little, if only for a moment. Astonishingly, that tends to be at full throttle while riding the storied Florida track’s famous banking.“Sure, I can hold my head up quite easily,” says Jordan’s Wayne Taylor Racing teammate, Renger van der Zande. “But right from the start of a stint, as soon as I get on the banking, I always relax by resting it on the headrest. Recovery and conserving energy is so important, so out on track, you find moments to save every little bit you can.”Between driving stints is intense, too – and perhaps just as critical as when a driver is behind the wheel. According to van der Zande, it’s key to eat, rehydrate and sleep every chance he gets. Every driver has their own routine, but they all amount to the same thing: to be mentally and physically ready when you climb back in that racecar.The multi-class racing in the WeatherTech Championship adds to the mental challenge. At one time, prototypes had a speed advantage on the straights as well as through the turns. But with the low-downforce GT Daytona class cars going like stink in a straight line now, much of the traffic has to be dealt with in the turns, making it all the more fraught.“When you’re racing through traffic, you have to be so focused,” says Taylor. “You’re working with some extremely diabolical variables. Is it the professional or amateur driver in the car you’re about to pass? Are they going to see me? Is it better to go inside or outside? How is their car handling? You’re sometimes having to do this several times per lap. You’re making split-second decisions, but without backing off, because you’ve probably got another prototype right on your tail.” Think about that for three hours at a time…“There are lots of fast drivers, but you want someone who’s going to gel with you,” says Jordan Taylor, summing up the importance of driver chemistry to the success of a sports car team.But finding an optimum combination of drivers is no easy task. Driven, ambitious and competitive people are not always known for their ability to share. Yet sports car racing is a team sport, just as much as basketball or football, so finding a way to make the sum of these potentially volatile parts greater than the whole is essential. “With Renger (van der Zande) joining the team last year, there weren’t any ego issues,” says Taylor. “That’s key to it. If one of us found something on-track that could help the other, we were always eager to share the info. Having guys like Fernando (Alonso) and Kamui (Kobayashi) come in for Daytona is another opportunity to learn and benefit from their experience.”

By: Paul Pfanner | 23 hours ago

A note from Paul Pfanner, RACER’s founder & CEO

— The Winter issue of RACER — celebrating 50 years of IMSA — delivered the highest revenue of any RACER issue ever published. Thank you to all advertisers and partners who commissioned custom content sections, including IMSA, Cadillac, BMW, Lexus, Michelin, Yokohama, Monster Energy, Lucas Oil and Spring Mountain.— RACER’s Spring 2019 Season Preview issue was another success with a special content section celebrating the 30th Anniversary season of the new-look Blancpain GT World Challenge America series along with a 68-page NTT IndyCar Series special issue, which is the fifth we’ve produced for the series since 2015.— RACER.com continues to grow, driven by our great roster of contributors including Robin Miller, Marshall Pruett, Chris Medland, Kelly Crandall, Richard James, Stephen Kilbey, Eric Johnson and Marty Fiolka as well as our amazing photographers. RACER.com saw a healthy 14% growth in unique users in 2018 versus 2017, averaging 344,000 monthly uniques. Even more impressive is the stout 27% rise in uniques from the USA during the same period. — 2019 is off to a strong start for RACER.com with a 12.66% growth in unique users during January and February, and an astonishing 42.71% spike in uniques from the USA during these months.— Our team is also grateful to be in our 36th year as publisher of SportsCar magazine, which we produce for the 45,000 members of the Sports Car Club of America. SCCA celebrated its 75th Anniversary with the gala March 2019 issue.—The RACER Studio agency team has been very busy for the last 14 months producing the Official 50th Anniversary book for IMSA as well as numerous project for clients including Mazda, Toyota, Monster Energy and the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli.— During the past year we’ve also announced content distribution and marketing alliances with the USA Today Sports Media Group and DRIVETRIBE.com to help us and our customers reach new audiences beyond the core motorsports fan.—You may have noticed that our coverage has expanded to include off-road and motorcycle racing. Based on initial audience reaction to this new content we are very optimistic that it will help us grow even more in the year ahead. Below are some upcoming issue deadlines for RACER and SportsCar magazines, as well as links to our advertiser resource site and our RACER Studio site.

Upcoming issues of RACER

Issue Number 298
The Heroes Issue (June 2019)
Mails: April 05
Space: March 20
Materials: March 26Issue Number 299
The Legendary Races Issue (July 2019)
Mails: June 05
Space: May 01
Materials: May 17Issue Number 300
The Great Cars Issue (Aug/Sep 2019)
Mails: August 02
Space: June 28
Materials: July 12

Upcoming issues of SportsCar

Pro Racing Success Stories (June 2019)
Mails: May 6
Space: March 22
Materials: April 9SCCA’s Best Cars (July 2019)
Mails: June 3
Space: April 19
Materials: May 8Motorsports Knowledge Issue (August 2019)
Mails: July 1
Space: May 17
Materials: June 21advertise.racer.com
www.racerstudio.comThe RACER team would welcome the opportunity to work with you and your team to reach the most passionate and engaged motorsports audiences in North America.